Boot and shoe.



STUNTEB einem' PATENT nemen.

-DEYE-R S` HESS, F BALTIMORE, IVIARYLAND, ASSIGNOR. TO UNITED SHOE lviIACHINERY COMPANY, OF 'PA'.IERSONf'NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OE NEWT JERSEY.

BOOT AND SHOE.

"' Application filed November 27, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented om.. 2o, 1914.

sei-iai No. 464,542.

bjzll whom' it may coce'm vBeit known that I, Mew-21: S. Hess, a. citi# zen oftheUnitedStates, vresidii'igf at Baltimore,V in v`,the State of Mnrylnnd, have in- 5 rented. cert-iinImprovements in Boots :ind Shot wliici'rthe following descriptionl ing nnection with the accompanying draW-- Ais a. speoieation, like reference char-- Sueliv tii'ening mennsfare' generally incorpoiftell betweeii `the innervandfonter soles from the. heel forwardly for 'a l.Snllieient length. to gii'et-he desiited ziinonnt of'st-iififi, n' `to. 'the elnn-ikio the s l'ioe. Stiifening devices hnye'beeniniideof leathenfnf wood,

of met-alg,l und of a' combination of metzil.

with lentiherbonrd. oi the like. Stitl'eners infidevof leather nre entirely too'expensive forordin-ziry.use and sire too pliable.'

Shrink till'enersofrnetal or. of metal and lezitl'iezfhoard nre nonr very generally used and. itis :in object of this invention to imY prove shank 'stiening devices of these two tlvgiesu y. .w r i 1 (lne .of the. objections to metallic. shank still'renerg ai heretofore made, whether Used with or' without n bnf. ng of lent-lierhonml 0r the. like, has been the weight required to give the ile' ed degree of rigidity .to the metal. hier getij weight involved increased cost (if xsl( 11ml n iiig'h cost of prmluetion andv Lluis i,. i'i;sti:tefl nrlditionz-ll objet-.tions to the use of snel still'enem.

lt therefore un obje-jt of this invention to provide n nieialliu shnjnli'still'ener which slinllylle simple-nini" inexpensive to eonStruct into slnipe by sin'iple and high speed elrines. i

ln the une of metallic shank. stieners, it hns heretofore been ento'innry tn Secure the sitiil'enei tn the innelfoi' outer sole by tacks, or in some instnnees rivets v:ire nti-' lllerel)I7 melting tllie st-iifener to' the .Sole has been found to oe unsatisfactory, the

lized.

tacks frequently breaking and hence allow,- ini: the slilener to work ont-'of piace, while riveting the stiiener involres too 'rei'it"eX- pensennil. reqnires too n'nlel'i time for gein eral use :is n 'fastening menne;

lt is n further oiijeet of this intention. to in'oqiile means of nttzucliing :imetnllie shank stifener to :i shoe, whifsh ivill insure it retention in the desired position.

As herein shown in preferred furnis the devices of this inventnni coi'nprise' pieces of lnn metal enri'eil l mgltnliinrlly" as x'n'ny be.

desired for the style ofshnnlgin'which it to vlie iis-uhrnnillnii'ing-one of more longitudinal ribs Strunk up froin thebedyipiirtions nt sneh thinnietnl pieces, the rib or rib standing :imn'oxixnntel ii-t 'rigilit- :ingles vwith lille ineinl.

muy he liiniti-tl't-(i'tli C arrangement affords rigidity incident totlie :ingle-bnr or L-forni of inetnlliv Const-rinition. lre'ferzibiy, und :is herein shown, the ribs nre fornieiifroln the hotly portion of the nielzrl shank und as they :ire `melt up from it, n' rili'and :i .morrenpondiin aperture are nui-ile :it one operation. l

The metal slill'ener `herein Sllovvn may be risul either nith backing of lezii'-lieriionrtl, lentlieruiil er the like` 0r Without. Snell bnele ing. In eli-.se i banking -is used, it Should prefernhly'he nflixefi u'pon the `side of 'the metal opposite to that upon which the ribes stand, it being intended that .the ribs-will be e'ntril portion. This i'vill he described.

titl'n-ess desired principally" in the cent-ral portion of the ll:1nlC,-tlie ribs' i 'the ntlvzintnges of.

Other "important fentnieS-and :details'ofl construction will beA `hereinzifiler more-"pairtienlaiuj; described and claimed. n

In the drawings showing a metallic shank Vstilfener embodying preferred forms of the.

inventioi'nliguze l is n View in perspective of one form of a shank stiiener embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan of the stil'ener= shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side elevation thereof; and Fig. 5 shows in per spective another form of shank stiiener embodying the invention.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the body portion of the stiifener is designated by 1 and is preferably of thin steel and of a suitable conformation to fit the style of shoe with which it is intended to -be used.- The ribs 3 and 4 are formed at substantially right angles with the bod portion l and should be approximately a ong the longitu` dinal center at about an equal distance each side of the middle line of the shank stiifener. These ribs are preferably parallel to each other and although two such ribs onl are shown, asingle rib or any number o ribs may be formed. These ribs may be easily constructed by cutting through the longitudinal axis of the stiffener for the desired .length of rib to be formed, and turning up at each end of each rib are formed substan` tially perpendicular to the portion 1 and constitute a part of the retaining means for` To incorporate this the shank stiiener. stiiener in a shoe the o erator positions the stifl'ener upon the shan portion of the insole and secures it by means of a tack in the usual manner. Should a bacldnglof leather oid or the like be'used, then e securing `tack is ordinarily set through the backing.

During the latter process of sole leveling the stiiener will be firmly aixed in the shoe, the ribs 3 and 4 being embedded in the inner-A The stiener being of thin material, the ribs are sharp enough to be sunk into'- sole.

the sole by the pressure of the leveling process and t tudinal displacement.

. :Referring to Fig. 5 wherein is illustrated` another-form of the invention, 8 designates the body of the shank sti'ener, having ribs 9 and 10 and shoulders 12, similarto the stiener-'shown in the other figures. AIn this form the'ribs 9 and 10 are tapered toward.

y one end of the stiffener. The ribs may be tapered by cutting and trimming them tol the taper desired after the are struck upl the ribs' are formed to the desire taper w en struck` from the stifener, but re erabl The latter construction may be accomp ished as illustrated in Fig. 5 by converging the ribs toward`each other at the tapered e shoulders 5 will prevent longi-4 ends, the amount of taper being substam tially equivalent to the extent to which they are converged. Such converging of the ribs in no way interferes with embedding them in the insole. If desired, the ribs could betapered toward Aeach end but it is thought preferable to have these ribs tapered and correspondingly converging'toward the forward end of the stiffener only. This arrangement provides a stiffener having its maximum strength or stiffness adjacent to 'the heelbreast where such strength is re-` quired; but havin less stiffness at the forward end of the s ank where less strength is desired in order to enable the bending movement of the sole to be distributed over a considerable part of the sole instead of beginning abruptly at the end of the stiffener. It will be evident that, if the bending movement is concentrated at a certain part of the sole, it may unduly strain both the stock and the seams at this point.

It will be understood that the stiffener shown in Fig. 1 is made right and left while that shown' in Fig. 5, having parallel sides, is interchangeable for either a right shoe or a left shoe.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A shank stiffener comprising a metallic plate of relatively thin material having a longitudinal stiening rib struck up from the middle portion of the plate and extending at substantiallyv a right angle to the plate, said rib having a relatively-sharp edge for substantially its entire length adaptin it to be driven into a shoe sole.

2. A s ankstiifener comprising a metallic plate of Arelatively thin material having a longitudinal stiffening rib struck up from the middle portion of the plate and composed of a single thickness of the material of said plate, said rib( extending at sub stantially a right angle to thek late and having a sharp shoulder at eac end thereof and a relativel sharp edge for substantially its entire lengt whereby itis adapted to driven into a shoe sole.

3. A shank stifener comprisin a metallic late of relativel thin material aving twoy ongitudinal stille the middle ning ribs struck up from` portion of the plate so that they lie substantially at right angles to the plate and provide a longitudinal aperture between them, each of said ribs havin shoulders at its ends and having a relative y shar edge for substantiallyits entire length W ereby the ribs are adapted to be driven into a shoe sole. l 4. A shank lstiiiener'comprising a metallic late of relatively Vthin material having two ias" ongitudinal stifening ribs struck up from"` the middle portion of the plate so that they lie substantially at right angles to the plate isa and provide a lqngituqnal apertur between n testinwny Wherepf 'I have signed my the ribs, sald nbs bemg ta red 1n helght name to thls spemficamon in the presence of 1o from the heel end toward t 1e forward end two subscribing witnesses.

of the late and convergn toward the lat- ,y d

. ter en and each rib havtpigng shoulders at. MEYER t" HEbS its ends and a relatlvely sharp edge for sub- Witnesses: stantially its entire length, whereby it is MARTIN LEHMAYER,

adapted to bedrven into a shoe soie. l Bamm M 

